Art of treating leather



Patented a... 28, 1941 "PATENTLO Fries ear or :msama LEATHER PhilipKaplam'Teaneck, N. 1., assignor to The Richards Chemical Works,Incorporated, Jersey City, N. 1., a corporation of New Jersey NoDrawing. Application August as, 1940,

Serial No. 354,611

. 7 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of treating leather and, morespecifically, to a process involving the use of certain novelcompositions in the treatment of leather. The present application isacontinuation in part ofmy copending application Ser. No. 312,681.

.In manufacturing and treating leather materials of all kinds, it is thegeneral practice to employ oils or oily compositions to facilitate the10 manufacturing processes and to impart certain desirablecharacteristics to selves. The oil has a multiplicity of functions inthe manufacture and treatment of leather. One-of its most importantfunctions is that of lubrication, in that it enables the material beingtreated to withstand machine operations without injury and abrasion andto readily advance or otherwise I move in the course of manufacture.Another function is to impart desired softness and pliability to thematerial and to retard or prevent the evolution of electrostatic forceswhile the manufacturing procedure is in progress. Still anotherfunction' is to act as a protector for the as leather fiber and theproduct made therefrom,

in that the oil or finishing compositions containing the same will tendto obviate malodorousness, polymerization, gum formation, and otherundesirable phenomena. i

' an A great variety of oils is available for poses above outlined, butso far as I am aware none has proven wholly satisfactory. Some are tooexpensive for generai use, others tend to oxidize readily while stillothers become sluggish 33 andheavy in aver-y short time. Asaconsequence, there is an imperatlverneed for an oil which whilereasonable in price will satisfactorily perform all the functions andfulfill all the requirementsexpected of such oils.

w The principal object of myinventionisto provide pliah these and otherkindred objects by-the apso plication of an oil obtained from the seedsof grapefruit. Grapefruit seed 011 contains a bitter principle of analkaloidal nature, which cannot be completely removed from the oil andwhich renders this oil unsuitable for human consump- 68 tion or animalfeed. Owing to this characteristic,

the products themgrapefruit seed oil, heretofore, has not foun anypractical commercial use. p

I have discovered that grapefruit seed oil has all the characteristicsdesirable in a leather treating oil and that the bitter principle, whichis I present in this oil and rehders the same unsuitable for most otherpurposes, appears to have the power of delaying oxidation and rancidityof the grapefruit seed oil itself as well as of other saponiflable oilsof vegetable, animal or mineral origin to which the grapefruit seed oilmay be admixed. Thus, by applying to the leather a composition of mattercomprising grapefruit seed oil, the deleterious effects of oxidation andrancidity manifesting themselves in brittleness and mal- 15 odorousnessof the leather can be substantially reduced or even entirely eliminated.

For the purposes of the present invention, th grapefruit seed oil may beemployed in unmodifled form or in sulfonated or sapon'ifled form, and mit may be used'alone or in combination with other oils or substances orcompounds as more fully hereinafter set forth.

Any suitable procedure may be employed to ob tain the oil from theseeds. The desirable pro- 88 cedure is mechanical rather than chemical,in order to retain in the oil all "of the bitter principle mentionedabove. If chemical procedure were used to recover the oil from the seedthe permanent retention of part of this bitter prin so -cip1e might beendangered. A desirable mechanical method of recovering the oil from theseeds comprises soaking the seeds in water to effect decomposition ofthe cortex by fermentation, drying theseeds thus pulped, employing an asAnderson expeller to express the oil from. the pulp, filtering-theproduct, settling out the oil, decolorizing if necessary or desirableand sub- Jecting'the oil to whatever subsequent treat ment may besuitable for the purpose or use to w which the oil is to be put.

' As above intimated, the grapefruit seed oil of my invention may besulfonated or saponifled and as both sulfonation and saponiflcation ofoils are brocedureswell known in the art I deem it superfluous todescribe such procedures in detall. Suillce it to say that sulfonationmay be efle'cted by appropriately treatlng the oil with well knownsulfonating agents, such as oleum, sulfuric acid, Ichlorsulfonicfacidand the so like, and saponlflcation may be effected by the use of anyappropriate alkaline agent normally usedintheartforthispurpose.

Both the sulfonated and saponiiied grapefruit seed oils of my inventionarewat'er-dispersible or B5 soluble products in which all the valuableproperties present in the raw oil are fully retained.

While, as stated above, the grapefruit seed oil may be used alone ortogether with other waterimmiscible oils or substances as a textiletreating agent, I find that such compositions may be made waterdispersible and readily removable from fibres by mixing the compositionswith appropriate emulsifiers or other dispersing agents. Emulsiflersadapted to the purpose are soaps or organic base salts of fatty acids,such as'the fatty acids of grapefruit seed oil, sperm oil, olive oil,coconut oil and other animal and vegetable oils, and other dispersingagents which I may use are mineral oil sulfonates.

The. foregoing compositions comprisingraw and/or sulfonated grapefruitseed oil may have included therein other animal, vegetable or mineraloils, as well as soaps, esters, amides, ketones and other suitable fattyderivatives thereof. Synthetic fatty acid esters, such as the methyl,ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, etc., alcoholic esters oflauric, capric, caprylic, oleic, stearic, palmitic, myristic,recinoleic, etc. acids, may be blended with raw and/or 'sulfonatedgrapefruit seed oil compositions. In general, esters of both-saturatedor unsaturated fatty acids with monohydric alcohols having less than 10carbon atoms may be used. Grapefruit seed oil may be further modified bysubjecting the same to blowing according to known methods. A compositioncomprising blown grapefruit seed oil and a synthetic fatty acid ester ofthe aforementioned typeis particularly valuable in treating leather.

. Example I Grain leather either in a wet or dry condition is brushed onthe grain side with grapefruit seed oil. The oil is very readilyabsorbed by the skin and the grain of the leather is rendered pliableand acquires a well nourished feel. Furthermore, due to the uniquecharacter of grapefruit seed oil in inhibiting oxidation the grain ofthe leather remains clear.

, fruit seed oil and sulfonated oil may be applied to the leather eitheras a dispersion or emulsion,

in the drum, paddle vat, or brushed on by hand.

' Example III In the event that it is desirable to include amine'raloil, the following composition may be Per cent Mineral nil 50 Grapefruitseed oil 20 Sulfonated' oil 30 Example IV Grapefruit seed oil maybeblended with 5-50% of a fatty acid ester such as methyl oleate, butylstearate, ethyl ricinoleate, and the like, and applied as in Examples Iand II.

Example V In the oiling or fat-'liquoring of leather and furs sulfonatedgrapefruit seed oil may be blended with raw grapefruit seed oil, spermoil, olive oil or any other suitable oil.

\ Example VI I Blown grapefruit seed oil may be blended with glycerideoils, mineral oils, fatty acids, tallow. petrolatum, and the like toform products useful in the stufiing and currying of leather and furs.Alternatively, blown grapefruit seed oil may be treated with dispersingand emulsifying agents' such as soap, sulfonated oils, sulfonated fattyalcohols, and the like, to give dispersions and emulsions that may beapplied to leather and furs as described in Example II.

Example VII Sulfonated grapefruit seed oil may be applied withothersulfonated oils commonly used in the oiling and fat-liquoring of leatherand furs, such as sulfonated cod oil, sperm oil, neatsfoot oil and thelike.

1 Example VIII In the fat liquoring of leather, the followingcomposition has produced excellent results:

' Per cent Grapefruit seed oil 30 Sulfonated fish or other oil 60 Water10 Irrespective of the particular uses for which the raw and/orsulfonated grapefruit seed oil compositions are to be put, theproportion of these and other constituents may be varied to suitconditions. The proportion of grapefruit seed oil or its chemicalderivatives may be determined by the degree of oxidation permissible inthe material under treatment and upon the degree of softness and otherproperties desired.

composition of matter comprising grapefruit seed oil.

4. In the treatment of leather, the step which comprises applying toleather a composition of matter comprising grapefruit seed oil and anesterof a higher fatty acid with a monohydric alcohol having less than10 carbon atoms.

5. In the treatment of leather, the step which comprises applying toleather an emulsiflable composition of matter comprising grapefruit seedoil and an ester of a higher fatty acid with a monohydric alcohol havingless than 10 carbon atoms.

'6. In the treatment of leather, the step which comprises applying toleather a composition compirilsing grapefruit seed oil and a sulfonatedmate- "I. In the treatment of leather, the step which comprises applyingto leather a, composition comprising sulfonated grapefruit seed oil anda product selected from the group consisting of ralvsv or sulfonated'animal, vegetable and mineral o PHILIP KAPLAN.

